Enterprise's next goal: Win championship against Paradise

No. 1 Hornets will face No. 2 Bobcats with Division I title on line

Enterprise seniors Zack Trueblood, Brad Woods and Brock Barr reflect on their season and the path to the Northern Section Division I championship.

T.J. Holmes

The No. 1 Enterprise Hornets will play the No. 2 Paradise Bobcats on Saturday night in Redding for the Division I championship title.

Nearly three months ago, the Enterprise High football players were gearing up to play their first game of the season with hope, optimism and a common purpose on their minds.

The Hornets wavered through the path of the regular season, turning hope into confidence and optimism into reality, checking off goals along the way.

A league championship? Captured. A home playoff game? Accomplished. A section title appearance? Achieved.

All that's left to do is take down perennial Northern Section power Paradise and its relentless Wing-T rushing attack for the Division I championship.

It's an opportunity to accomplish that feat twice in four years when the top-seeded Hornets welcome in the second-seeded Bobcats at Enterprise Community Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday.

"We've worked extremely hard, every single person on this team," Enterprise senior running back Brad Woods said. "I'm honored to have (the championship) here and play in front of our community and our fans and everyone in our school and everything.

"It's the last little goal, check this one off the list and end football with a good ol' bang."

Before the season, the Enterprise senior class — chock full of talent and experience at skill positions — felt like this year was their time to hoist the championship plaque.

They've reached the finals, but the path wasn't as smooth as they wanted it to be.

An early season injury to Woods, the Hornets' returning leading rusher, limited the depth at the running back position. Yet, junior tailback Jace O'Ravez stepped up in his place, totaling 450 yards and six touchdowns in his absence. Then, O'Ravez went down with a season-ending ACL injury, opening the door for Woods as the Hornets hardly lost a beat in their ground game.

"Everything happens for a reason, honestly that's the way to go through life," Woods said. "People get hurt, people get dinged up … close teams fight through it, come back, still get on top."

Later in the season, senior wide receiver Brock Barr turned in a career-game against Foothill, hauling in three touchdowns and 230 yards receiving but broke his collar bone and was told he wouldn't play the rest of the year. Barr returned last week against Chico — five weeks later — and is back healthy for a rematch with Paradise, against which he caught two balls for 60 yards and a touchdown in the Oct. 5 meeting.

The Hornets' dreams of a perfect season didn't last long as they fell to D-II West Valley in the second week of the season. Four weeks later, Enterprise fumbled away the chance at an overtime win at Paradise — its first time playing at Om Wraith Field since winning the 2009 section championship. Two weeks later, another run-heavy Wing-T team in unbeaten D-II Sutter took down the Hornets on their own turf, leaving Enterprise an improbable chance of taking the league crown, let alone a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Then opportunity arose. Paradise fell to Red Bluff, a team the Bobcats historically have dominated.

Enterprise didn't let the chance go to waste. The Hornets needed to finish off Shasta in River Bowl XX, and follow it up with a win on the road against Pleasant Valley to restore an entire season's objective in one week's time.

They knew the goal. They knew what had to happen. And they never looked back.

"It's been neat for me to watch this senior class accomplish almost everything they've wanted to," Enterprise head coach Darren Trueblood said. "But we have one more big one to take care of business with."

The Hornets had a second chance to control their own destiny and seized it. Now, they have a second chance at Paradise to claim what they've sought out to do from the first day of spring practice — to win a championship.

"This is what we've been working for since last February," Barr said. "Working out in the gym, doing summer camp, every day 5 o'clock in the hot sun. This is everything we've worked for."